Oft-Burglarized Store Hits Back With GPS

INDIANAPOLIS -- After five burglaries at his store this summer, Chris Rowland decided to plant Global Positioning System devices in some of his merchandise.

The decision paid off with burglary No. 6.

Someone broke into the Woodcraft store in the Castleton area on Friday morning and stole woodworking tools. Rowland had placed GPS devices in some of the packaging.

"The GPS system, we've wired it so that it phones my cell phone and tells me that it's on the move, and we can actually track it," Rowland told 6News' Jack Rinehart.

The devices informed Rowland that the stolen items were at an apartment complex less than half a mile from his store. Later, the devices showed the merchandise had been moved to a house in Lawrence.

Rowland called police, who recovered the merchandise. Police said they're looking for Jeffrey Burton, who they named a suspect in all six burglaries.

Rowland said he was motivated to use the GPS devices after someone told him that he'd never catch whoever was burglarizing his store.

"The police obviously don't have resources to do this for me, so I decided I was going to catch the guy," Rowland said.

Burton, 46, also is wanted on burglary charges in Tennessee. Anyone with information on his whereabouts can call Crime Stoppers of Central Indiana at 317-262-8477.